Those of you who visit our site regularly know I’ve been taking lessons since early March in hopes of playing better golf. Yesterday morning at Ironwood Golf Course I played my first 18 holes of 2011. The result: I’m improving and only sucked for about 2.5 holes. If you’ve never played with me before — that’s a big improvement.
My entire golf life I’ve based everything about my game around the score that I wrote down at the end of the day. I’m trying not to do that this year as it can prove counterproductive for players of lesser skill (like myself right now). Instead, I broke down the way I played yesterday into segments.
~ I made a birdie on the Par 4 12th hole. I didn’t make one birdie all of 2010. Already things are looking up.
~ I hit seven greens in regulation. That’s not great by better players’ standards, but it’s an improvement for me. It’s so rare for me to put together a solid tee shot and a solid approach shot on the same hole. I did more times yesterday than I did in any round last year.
~ The thing I was happiest with yesterday was my comfort and confidence with my irons. Last season I developed a nasty habit of catching the ground a few inches behind the ball and “duffing” way too many shots. I made good swings with my irons that were accurate and consistent. This has me very excited.
It wasn’t all good…
~ On each side I had one disgusting blow-up hole. It was the 4th hole Par 4 on the front side and the 14th hole Par 5 on the back side. Both of these holes were simply recorded as “others.” But, it was only two holes and I didn’t let it ruin me mentally.
~ My driver is still as reliable as Charlie Sheen. Every swing I took with my driver resulted in a weak fade that sent the ball way to the right. The only time I managed to really make a good swing with my driver was on the 12th hole…(where my sole birdie came).
~ Lots of three putts. Three times I hit a green in regulation only to three-blast it into a bogey. Those need to go away.
After the round, Mo Golf told me that my game was at about the level he expected after a few lessons. I definitely felt reassured after making such strong swings with my irons. It’s back to the practice range tomorrow and then we’ll see what Round 2 of 2011 brings.
